Gender Roles
Gradually after independence, gender roles and behavioral norms views start to change in Tunisian culture with the development of gender equality inside the society. In 1957 the Code of Personal Status (CSP) came into force, which gives women a new status, unprecedented in the Arab-Muslim world. This code establishes in particular the principle of equality between man and woman in terms of citizenship, forbade polygamy, allows women to divorce, established the minimum age for marriage at 15 for women and 18 for men and requires the consent of both spouses as a rule of validity of any marriage. Later, in 1964, the minimum age for marriage was advanced to 17 years for women and 20 years for men. Later, on the 50th anniversary of the CSP, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali decided to unify this age for young men and women in 2007.
Today, the position of women in Tunisia is among the most privileged in North Africa, and can be compared to that of European women. In 2002, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women commended Tunisia for "its great strides forward in promoting equality between men and women". Nevertheless, in rural places where life to some degree remains traditional, Tunisian women still have a long way to go to reach genuine equality. The man is still considered the head of family and inheritance is completely unequal.
The official government policies and programs for decades has strongly emphasized on gender equality and on promoting social development, translating into concrete results. According to latest figures, women make up 26% of the working population and more than 10,000 women are heads of businesses. At the same time, over one third of the approximately 56,000 graduates emerging annually from Tunisian universities are girls. On 1 November 1983, President Habib Bourguiba appointed the first two women ministers: Fethia Mzali (Family and Promotion of Women) and Souad Yaacoubi (Public Health) as leaders. Today the proportions of female representation in legislative and advisory bodies are: 22.7% in the Chamber of Deputies, over 15% in the Chamber of Advisors, over 27% in municipal councils, 18% in the Economic and Social Council, 13.3% in the Higher Council of the Judiciary, 12% among ministry departmental staff. In some areas, women outnumber men, for instance in the pharmaceutical sector women represent more than 72% of all Tunisian Pharmacists. In addition, Tunisian Women are present in key national domains such Education where they constitute half of the educational body and 40% of university professors.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Tunisia
Famous quotes containing the words gender and/or roles:
“Most women of [the WW II] generation have but one image of good motherhood—the one their mothers embodied. . . . Anything done “for the sake of the children” justified, even ennobled the mother’s role. Motherhood was tantamount to martyrdom during that unique era when children were gods. Those who appeared to put their own needs first were castigated and shunned—the ultimate damnation for a gender trained to be wholly dependent on the acceptance and praise of others.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“Productive collaborations between family and school, therefore, will demand that parents and teachers recognize the critical importance of each other’s participation in the life of the child. This mutuality of knowledge, understanding, and empathy comes not only with a recognition of the child as the central purpose for the collaboration but also with a recognition of the need to maintain roles and relationships with children that are comprehensive, dynamic, and differentiated.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)